Speaking with Le Quotidien in an interview published Monday, Henckes said that its members had already made the trade confederation aware of various difficulties but that at the level of policy "our warning signals" were not being taken into account.

“Increases in wages, public holidays and parental leave are all factors that have increased the operating costs of many SMEs and especially VSEs,” Henckes was quoted as saying. 

Despite these and additional hardships--infrastructure works due to the tram, competition, to name a few--Henckes told the journal he hopes that a modernisation bill on bankruptcy would take into account the need to offer some individuals the possibility for a real second chance. With the caveat: “We would like to make a very clear distinction between the fraudsters who must be punished very severely and the others, those who were very innovative, who were perhaps ahead of their time, who didn’t find their clientele right away. Or those who have gone bankrupt because they have lost two of their biggest customers who are struggling themselves.”

The CLC director added that other measures could be considered to help prevent bankruptcies in future, such as “the help of peers who know how a business works, who can understand the business cycles".